


As All Stars Fall

by Neaki



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Body Worship, First Kiss, First Time, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Porn With Plot, Post-Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation, Resolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-12-12 08:34:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11733456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neaki/pseuds/Neaki
Summary: The three times Leo wouldn’t shut up and the one time Takumi left him speechless.





	As All Stars Fall

**Author's Note:**

> hi everyone hope you don't mind me slidin’ into this fandom.. 
> 
> i believe this couple needs a little more love than they’re given. this started out as porn without plot just written between rp replies with my own leokumi, and honestly, even as it is the plot is debatable! but i hope you enjoy it!! as a sidenote, this is almost entirely unbeta’d other than the typos and inconsistencies i could spot by myself. thanks for understanding, and i promise that there will eventually be smut headed your way for these two!

Nohr was unfamiliar to Takumi, but not in a way that would imply he felt lost in its tangles. He’d been a visitor to the kingdom before. They were times spent clad in armour and with an army to watch his back; a time when paranoia had felt like a parasite that had rooted itself in his heart, and he’d memorised every detail of these grounds for the sake of survival. Even now, there were feelings of anxiety that crept back up simply from being here. There was no need for Takumi to worry: Hoshido and Nohr had (at least on paper) settled their disagreements. But memories of the war were not quickly forgotten, and something about the crisp bite of the frigid air reminded him of that. His hands gripped the reins of the horse tighter, and he felt his stomach twist itself into knots, though his expression reflected none of that: he stayed a glowing example of royalty, chin held high and postured perfectly upright, never wavering.

Besides, Leo seemed just fine.

Leo, Prince of Nohr— recently (and **reluctantly** ) befriended. It was an unexpected bond, but lazy, warm afternoons spent conversing with one another had revealed that they had more in common than they once thought. Now Leo was a companion who had offered to escort Takumi on his journey to Castle Krakenburg. The intentions behind the invite had never been made clear, but since the finale of their battles, Leo had been spending a baffling amount of time in Hoshido without being under royal obligations. Perhaps this was a gesture to make Takumi feel welcomed and more comfortable in Nohr?

The gesture was kind and so thoughtfully proposed that Takumi wouldn't have dreamed of turning it down. But during their travels, he was reminded of the reason why he once regarded Nohr with such disdain: when they'd crossed the borders that divided day and night, it was as if a web of darkness that enveloped the land and its inhabitants, swallowing them whole and leaving behind an eternal dusk in its wake. The contrast between their kingdoms was strikingly apparent, enough that an unease had settled early on in their journey.

Leo must've noticed, for his first offer felt too kind to have been tailored from his own ideas. Though they'd arrived in silence, he'd been the first to break it, casting his gaze towards Takumi as he dismounted his horse.

"If I recall, you once told me you had a fondness for literature...?"

Takumi hesitated before he realised that he was expected to reply. "Ah-- yes, I did tell you that once. Back when we were bickering because our siblings were comparing us so carefully," his lips tugged into a smug smile. "Once I pick up a good book, I can’t put it down until I’m finished… could it be that the Prince of Nohr has been taking notes on me? How curious."

Leo returned the smile. "Curious, indeed." his tone was teasing, lighthearted and amused from the memories of conversations gone by. One would have never guessed that only months ago his words to Takumi had been filled with spite and venom from a dispute that had never been theirs to begin with. "I have something I believe may pique your interest."

"Hm. Consider my interest piqued."

-

Led through corridors of dark marble, the hallways felt endless, even with Leo guiding the way. Their path was dimly lit by torches lined along the walls whose fire crackled and struggled to bring enough light, and Takumi wondered if it would hurt the royal family to invest in a chandelier— windows, even. It was a miracle Nohr’s royal family wasn't immediately blinded upon stepping outside, even more so that they had survived longer than a few hours under Hoshido's sun.

Shadows crawled along the stone walls, hiding in corners and between crevices, creating a backdrop that was hellishly picturesque. Despite the halls being significantly bigger than those of Takumi's castle in Hoshido, the darkness felt almost suffocating. Leo's home was anything but inviting.

Even his clothes, which offered so little in traditional Hoshidan colours, were annoyingly vibrant against the grim atmosphere.

"Your expression is ridiculous," Leo remarked, glancing over his shoulder briefly and catching the sight of Takumi with a wrinkled nose and furrowed brows. A laugh escaped him.

"Oh?" Takumi straightened his posture, hoping to regain his lost regality. "It's shocking that you can see me in this lighting."

"For an archer, it's shocking you **can't** see in this lighting. Have you finally stared into the sun for too long?"

Takumi's mouth parted to bite back a response, but was shocked instead when Leo abruptly stopped in front of a dark oak door. He craned his neck back to gaze at the looming entrance, impressed by the intricate details carved along its frontside. They appeared to be more than just miscellaneous flowers or swirls, like so many of the hand-carved doors at his castle, and the designs felt purposeful. Perhaps they were runes? A sculpted story of the legacy of Leo's ancestors? Or maybe Nohr simply had better architects, and it wasn't that deep.

Leo caught Takumi's attention with a beckoning wave of his hand, pushing open the door to reveal what he'd been hiding. And at first, there was a sinking feeling of disappointment: it seemed the darkness that had festered along the halls had not spared this room. Cloaked in an essence of the evening, he couldn't make out any important details or even vague shapes of objects, let alone understand what kind of room was being presented to him.

Bewildered, he quirked an eyebrow. "... about that interesting thing you had--"

Leo raised his index finger to silence Takumi (who backed off with a small grumble) and gave a sharp movement of his other wrist towards the room.

The library illuminated.

Light awakened along the walls, slowly flickering into life one by one in a display of elegance and grace to finally unveil the surprise. Shelves towered above the duo, reaching high, and Takumi first noticed that each shelf seemed to have been carved with the same care and delicacy as the door. No design alike, but he was more taken back by the content rather than the furniture: books filled the rows, squeezed in tightly against one another. An endless sea of old pages and worn covers, though he couldn't recognise even a speck of dust. If one were to sit down and spend their whole life gathering and learning from Nohr's royal collection, Takumi doubted they would come close to finishing.

Takumi's heart leapt in his chest at the sight, his fingers twitched at his side, and his entire body struggling to resist the urge to rush in and scour the library for the knowledge Nohr had kept locked away. He wasn't wide-eyed or gawking, though if he'd ever gawked in his life, now might've been a perfect time. Rather, he stayed perfectly neutral.

Leo brought his chin up and gazed down at Takumi; waiting.

"..."

"..."

Takumi finally spoke. "Our library in Hoshido is better."

"Do you _ever_ give up trying to one up me?"

"I don't lose, Prince Leo."

"Funny," Leo smiled, and he flicked his wrist in the direction of the library again, "because neither do I."

The moment went by in a heartbeat, so fast that Takumi hadn't much time to register what was happening. In an instant, the oak door shut itself again, slamming in their faces and startling Takumi enough to cause him to jump back, stumbling a little.

"Hey!" Takumi snapped his head to meet Leo's gaze, who seemed amused by the reaction. "I didn't ask you to close it!"

He gave a thoughtful hum. "The library in Hoshido is **far** more extravagant," Leo's voice dripped with sarcasm, "and you look disinterested. Why don't we do something else? I'm sure you'd have a better time viewing the plants we've been maintaining outside." knowing Nohr's infamy for being cursed with poor weather conditions, Takumi doubted whatever they'd been struggling to keep alive would be worth his while, let alone worth the trip here.

"That's not what I meant--" Takumi rushed to defend himself, feeling the grasp he'd once had on a never-ending pool of pages and knowledge now slipping past his fingers.

"Are you admitting defeat?"

"No," came his curt reply, "but I'll propose a draw."

Leo tilted his head slowly to either side, musing over the idea. After a long silence of contemplation (Takumi swore it had felt like an eternity), he turned towards the entrance and opened the way into the library again. "All right... a _draw_."

-

It appeared that time was vital when dealing with Nohrian royalty, and Takumi wasted none of it by idling. The two began to weave their way through the shelves, Takumi leading in soft curiosity and with Leo in tow, who explained the sections the library had been divided into and any notable titles he'd remembered off the top of his head. The contents were as bountiful as he'd expected, if not even more so: thick books that covered Nohrian weaponry, the kingdom's culture and unique traditions, its history, even information on strong figureheads and the upper class, all carefully organised and maintained in one room.

A wisp of light danced in Leo’s raised palm while he spoke, conjured so Takumi could inspect the shelves without straining his eyes. It drifted towards Takumi whenever he neared the books, twirling and spinning as if with a life all its own, orbiting around him.

For a moment, something glittered amongst the sea of purples and greys.

He barely caught it, just in the corner of his eye, but it was enough to give him pause. Takumi reached towards the source and laid his index finger across the spine of a heavy book, tugging it out for examination. Gold peeled off the cover in flakes, haphazard and scarce in its placement, suggesting that it may be remnants of a title or name of the author. _(Had someone scratched it off? Was there any reason to?)_ The light fluttered closer to him.

“That was written during my father’s reign.” Leo’s voice interrupted Takumi before he had the chance to read the first page; he seemed unamused. “The author was a sharp-witted tactician, but their writings are heavily censored and false in their information.”

There wasn’t much that needed to be said on the matter. The subject of Nohr’s corrupt king was a delicate one, especially for that same king’s son, and he worried that a misstep could quickly turn their conversation sour. Garon had been a powerful figurehead once, and his name alone had been enough to strike fear into the hearts of people– a tyrant more than a just ruler. “Sounds like a waste of a talented tactician,” Takumi said, purposefully keeping his remarks short.

“Indeed...” the following silence between them felt heavy, but he was thankful that Leo didn’t allow it to linger for very long. “If you’d like, I do have a few writings by that same tactician– rarer titles, that were uninfluenced by my father. They were intriguing enough that I’ve kept them in my personal library, but I don’t mind letting you borrow them.”

Takumi visibly faltered. Something brought him hesitation, and he averted his gaze towards the scratched book cover. “... Prince Leo,” he closed his eyes and sighed, “what are you doing?”

“Excuse me?” the sudden formality came as a shock.

“The information you have in this library could have won us the war.” intel on their weaponry and now as far as Nohrian war strategy— this felt like something he could have only once imagined in his dreams. “What are you doing, showing this to me?”

“You seemed uncomfortable during our ride here. Was I wrong in thinking this would calm your nerves?”

“Well, I...” _‘—I didn’t want to believe you could read me so easily,’_ is what Takumi wanted to say, though his pride caused the words to catch in his throat. “... I see.” he managed instead.

“Consider it water under the bridge. Now, we should probably put that thing back--” Leo drew closer, reaching out his hands and gently resting them atop of Takumi’s, which were still gripped onto the sides of the book.

Takumi’s eyes widened at the contact, and when they locked gazes, he noticed the orb of light between them flickered.

_(His heart might have skipped a beat, too.)_

“I’m sorry for accusing you like that.”

_(Leo’s touch was soft; a striking contrast to Takumi’s rough and calloused hands. His days of training with the Fujin Yumi had not been kind to him.)_

“Come, Takumi, don’t be ridiculous. I trust you.”

_(He wondered if this contact and close distance was affecting Leo as much as it was affecting him.)_

“And even after all that I have done, you find yourself dull enough to forgive me so easily,” Wait-- what was he saying? It seemed to leave his mouth faster than he could process to stop himself. Takumi fumbled to correct himself and give a more reasonable reply. “What I _mean_ is that… well, I– ah...” he shifted his weight on his feet anxiously, “I... I finally feel like I can trust you, too.”

Leo’s gaze was steady, and the hint of a smile was unmistakable on his lips.

“What?” Takumi asked.

“Who, me? It’s nothing.”

“It’s not _nothing_ ; it’s a compliment!”

They shared their laughter together, and for the first time beyond Nohr’s borders, Takumi felt an unfamiliar warmth in his chest and a sincerity in his grin. This moment would be theirs: away from the prying eyes of the public and absent of their duties as opposing royalties, and he could only wish that they could treasure the privacy a little longer.

As though perfectly on cue, Leo echoed Takumi’s exact thoughts: “ah… it’s about time we got a moment to ourselves.”

“We’ve been alone our entire journey here.” regardless of their mutual relief, the temptation to correct the Nohrian royalty is one he can’t refuse. Takumi dared to dig a little further for clarification.

“No, we haven’t. It’s been me, you, and your own festering thoughts,” one of Leo’s hands lifted from their clasp over Takumi’s hand and rested on the top of his head instead. “I won’t deny that I’ve been doing the same thing.”

“Was this trip to the library for my sake, then, or for your own?”

The same unamused expression from earlier returned to Leo. Takumi frowned at the sudden change of tone in their conversation, and he reached up to grab the hand resting atop his head. “I’m not a child, Leo. Treat me as your equal and spit it out, what have you been thinking about?”

Their hands link and fall at their sides. For the second time, the orb of light that spun between them flickered.

“… we’re the same, you and I,” there was something different about the way Leo spoke this time, that Takumi could only comprehended as being… nervous. “We get along in ways I never thought plausible when we first met. To think that we’d ever speak so casually like this… I once would’ve called it nigh impossible.”

Takumi doesn’t speak; his face flushed to a hue of pink.

“—ah, sorry. Forget that I said anything.” Leo’s expression seemed almost pained, but he retreated at the first sense of their encounter becoming awkward, hand beginning to unclasp from the other’s grasp.

“No, I—” Takumi’s grip seemed to tighten on Leo’s hand, finding his confidence and his words. “I feel the same way. Friendship is truly a mysterious thing, but I don’t think we should end this bond with mere friendship.”

Now it was Leo’s turn for his cheeks to blush at the sudden straightforward words from the Prince, but his surprised expression didn’t linger for long. “Yes... this bond between Nohrian and Hoshidan… it will also affect the bond of our kingdoms.”

“It would be nice if we could guide them together.”

Their breath seemed to have caught in their throat, and Takumi hadn’t registered the step closer until he’d taken it.

“That’s true. From this point on, please take care of me, Prince Takumi.”

“I trust you’ll do the same, Prince Leo.”

For the third and final time, the orb of light flickered between them, and the book they held between them dropped as they shared their first kiss. It was slow, cautious in a way that made Takumi feel fragile in Leo’s hands, like for the first time in his life he was being treated as a treasure. Their bodies seemed to press up against one another like a missing puzzle piece, Takumi’s hands reaching up to cup Leo’s face, and giving a little gasp at the feeling of his hips being held onto and pulled closer. Their first kiss turned into their second, and their third, and soon they became tangled in one another, sharing the elation of a fleeting romance as time slowed to accommodate their careful affections.

Takumi was the first to pull back, and when he does, he can still feel the ghost of Leo’s lips on his own. Their eyes meet, and as slowly as their kisses had been, the realization of what they’d just done seemed to sink in.

“We—”

“We shouldn’t be doing this,” Leo finished the sentence for Takumi, releasing the hold that he’d had on the Prince. The sudden distance between them felt like a cold contrast to their embrace. “I’m sorry for—” began his attempt at an apology, a weak solution for an impossible situation.

“No, that’s not what...” Takumi’s gaze cast to the ground, averting from the expression of his friend; the warmth in his chest had faded, and he could only recognize a painful ache. If his anxiety from the beginning of their journey could fester and return tenfold, he figured it was doing so now, churning in his stomach and making him feel ill. “I’m sorry, can you… just… give me some time to myself?”

“Of course, Prince Takumi,” Leo responded: his voice sounded collected, but Takumi was too afraid to glance up and see what expression he was wearing. “We can forget this happened… I’ll be waiting outside the library if you need me.”

Takumi didn’t watch Leo leave, only listened to the echo of his footsteps, as they slowly faded, quieter and quieter, and his thoughts becoming louder and louder. His fingers reached up to trace over his lips carefully, where Leo’s had been pressed against, and he was left to wonder in a torturing silence if things would ever be the same between them.

**Author's Note:**

> if you’re wondering, much of their end dialogue was taken from an original japanese translation, where i believe their A rank support, well... definitely could've been taken in a different way, haha. thanks for reading!


End file.
